Recap: Deputy Secretary David Turk Visits the 49th State

At the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference last week (May 22-25), hosted by Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy, a range of Department of Energy and Administration officials were on hand for plenaries, panels, events, and consults as nearly 1,000 attendees connected about boosting the clean energy transition in Alaska.

Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk joined Arctic Energy Office Director Dr. Erin Whitney and Assistant Secretary of State for Energy and Natural Resources, Geoffrey Pyatt, for a conversation about taking big and bold steps to invest in Alaska, bring good-paying clean energy jobs to the state, and spur on energy developments with a focus on bringing reliable clean energy access and resources to previously underserved communities.

While Alaska is the "coal capital of the United States," as Gov. Dunleavy said, there's tremendous opportunity for hydropower, biomass energy, battery storage, wind, solar, geothermal, energy efficiency upgrades, and nuclear energy, to name a few of the key conversation topics at the Alaska Sustainable Energy Conference. DOE staff from the Arctic Energy Office were joined by teams from the Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs, Sandia National Laboratories, Loan Programs Office, Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations, Idaho National Laboratory, ARPA-E, and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory at the conference, indicating how much investment the Department of Energy is making (and is poised to make) in the 49th State.

Deputy Secretary Turk also made visits to rural Alaska while in the state, flying to Nome, Teller, and Kotzebue to visit local officials, utility companies, Port of Nome officials, the Alaska Native Corporation - NANA Regional Corporation, and Alaska residents to understand energy challenges and needs. He also met with the Alaska Federation of Natives' leadership and staff, Calista Corporation, DOE's National Labs' Alaskan collaborators in a briefing with Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, and spoke with the many DOE staff members who are based in the state.